tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/nerve-agent-5605/articlesNerve agent – The Conversation2018-03-20T15:31:50Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/936872018-03-20T15:31:50Z2018-03-20T15:31:50ZThe story of the Novichok nerve agents – podcast<p>In this audio version of an in depth article from The Conversation, listen to the story of how nerve agents were developed – and used in an attack on a former Russian spy on the streets of the English city of Salisbury.</p>
<p>You can read the text version of <a href="https://theconversation.com/novichok-the-deadly-story-behind-the-nerve-agent-in-sergei-skripal-spy-attack-93562">this article here</a>. It’s read by Annabel Bligh for The Conversation’s In Depth Out Loud podcast.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>The music in this podcast is <a href="http://freemusicarchive.org/music/Lee_Rosevere/Music_for_Podcasts_4/Lee_Rosevere_-_Music_for_Podcasts_4_-_06_Night_Caves">Night Caves</a>, by Lee Rosevere from the Free Music Archive. A big thanks to City University London’s Department of Journalism for letting us use their studios to record.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93687/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alastair Hay received funding from The Rowntree Trust and Human Rights Watch to investigate allegations of the use of chemical weapons. He is a member of the Advisory Board on Education and Outreach of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and Chairman of the UK Chemical Weapons Convention Advisory Committee. </span></em></p>An audio version of an in depth article on the story of how the nerve agent used in an attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal was developed.Alastair Hay, Professor (Emeritus) of Environmental Toxicology, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/935622018-03-20T15:28:14Z2018-03-20T15:28:14ZNovichok: the deadly story behind the nerve agent in Sergei Skripal spy attack<p>Against the backdrop of Salisbury’s beautiful cathedral, a new word recently gained <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-43328976">global notoriety</a>. But the three people who had the right to know most about Novichok, a nerve agent, were oblivious to its sudden appearance in headlines around the world – for they lay fighting for their lives in a British hospital. </p>
<p>Former Russian spy Sergei Skripal, 66, his daughter Yulia, 33, and police detective sergeant Nick Bailey, were all exposed to Novichok (or “newcomer”, to use its more parochial translation from Russian) in the English city on March 4. The circumstances surrounding the case are <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-43328976">still being investigated</a> – but the latest (unconfirmed and improbable) reports suggest that Skripal may have been exposed through the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/mar/18/ex-russian-spy-may-have-been-poisoned-by-cars-ventilation-says-us-media">air vents of his BMW car</a>. </p>
<hr>
<p><em><strong>You can listen to an audio version of this article <a href="https://theconversation.com/podcast-the-story-of-the-novichok-nerve-agents-93687">here</a>.</strong></em></p>
<hr>
<p>Skripal was directly targeted, and perhaps his daughter was too, although it may simply have been Yulia’s proximity to her father that resulted in her exposure. Bailey was affected by the nerve agent as he was one of the first to respond and came into contact with it at a location as yet unknown. The police officer’s exposure is more likely to have been through contact with the nerve agent contaminating some surface.</p>
<p>At the time of writing, the Skripals remain in a critical condition in hospital. Bailey, meanwhile, is reportedly <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/nick-bailey-police-officer-salisbury-nerve-agent-no-longer-critical-condition-a8260346.html">making a slow recovery</a> and may be able to speak about his ordeal, perhaps providing vital clues. Environmental sampling will provide the evidence showing where the Skripals were most likely exposed and, hopefully, how that exposure occurred. </p>
<p>While the full facts have yet to come to light, the Novichok attack is developing into a full-blown international incident. The UK and Russia, which Britain has blamed for the attack, are now engaged in an increasingly bad-tempered <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/17/sergei-skripal-russia-expels-23-british-diplomats">tit-for-tat expulsion of diplomats</a>.</p>
<p>The UK foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, even <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/nick-bailey-police-officer-salisbury-nerve-agent-no-longer-critical-condition-a8260346.html">pointed the finger</a> squarely at the Russian president, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-russia-putin/britain-says-likely-that-russias-putin-made-decision-for-nerve-agent-attack-idUSKCN1GS1HW">Vladimir Putin</a> himself. <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43429152">Johnson said</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We think it overwhelmingly likely that it was his decision to direct the use of a nerve agent on the streets of the UK, on the streets of Europe, for the first time since the Second World War.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>So how did we get here? And why do these lethal chemical agents exist at all?</p>
<h2>The first nerve agents</h2>
<p>The story stretches back to 1936, when the first nerve agent, named tabun (after the <a href="https://cen.acs.org/articles/94/i41/Nazi-origins-deadly-nerve-gases.html">German word for “taboo”</a>), was synthesised by talented <a href="http://www.toxipedia.org/display/toxipedia/Gerhard+Schrader+-+Father+of+the+Nerve+Agents">German chemist Gerhard Schrader</a>. Schrader was investigating organophosphate compounds for the Third Reich in an effort to find suitable insecticides to improve crop yields. He quickly discovered that tabun was too toxic to ever be used in farming as it would almost certainly kill those applying it. A year later, however, he developed a second, even more toxic nerve agent: <a href="http://www.compoundchem.com/2014/10/07/nerveagentspart1/">sarin</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210937/original/file-20180318-104645-1ez9ysp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210937/original/file-20180318-104645-1ez9ysp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tabun was the first nerve agent to be made.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/confirm/775747504?src=eNqkidsvoPKwwPQJI8_2PA-1-30&amp;size=medium_jpg">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In debriefings by Allied intelligence officers after World War II, Schrader said that he’d been required to inform the Nazi authorities about his discoveries. But while Germany made <a href="https://cen.acs.org/articles/94/i41/Nazi-origins-deadly-nerve-gases.html">munitions with both tabun and sarin</a>, which were discovered at the end of the war, they were never used against Germany’s opponents. </p>
<p>Reasons for this are unclear. Some historians cite <a href="https://www.factcheck.org/2017/04/hitler-chemical-weapons/">Hitler’s own exposure</a> to chemical weapons during World War I and his apparent revulsion towards their use in battle. <a href="https://www.history.com/news/the-nazis-developed-sarin-gas-but-hitler-was-afraid-to-use-it">Others note</a> Churchill’s warning to Hitler that any use by Germany of chemical or biological agents would be met with a swift response. But the most convincing reason is likely to be the one mooted by Schrader himself. </p>
<p>Schrader noted in his post-war debrief that other scientists around the world, including in Britain, were working on organophosphate chemicals and believed that they were almost certain to have also discovered nerve agents. So if Germany used them, other countries would use them on Germany. In fact, Schrader was wrong; only Germany had the chemicals. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210990/original/file-20180319-31627-kfqttu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Nazi Germany had weaponised nerve agents, but never used them against Allied troops, pictured here landing during D-Day.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?src=lYJPL9zKmaHJwIetJmUSBA-1-2">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Going global</h2>
<p>After World War II, however, the UK, US and Soviet Union gained access to Nazi chemical know-how – and many German scientists began working for the victors. At the time, the prevailing view was that chemical weapons would almost certainly be used in a future conflict, and so the military usefulness of nerve agents such as tabun and sarin was investigated. </p>
<p>But tabun and sarin had their limitations. They were well suited for use on a rapidly moving battlefront because they vaporised and broke down in contact with water and so would disappear rapidly after use. But this left a gap in the arsenal, so-to-speak, for more persistent, longer-lived agents. </p>
<p>These were developed in the UK in the 1950s and include the now <a href="http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/malaysia-trial-kim-brother-homicide-1.4338580">well-known VX</a>. This was the nerve agent used in the <a href="http://nationalpost.com/news/world/pathologist-north-korean-had-low-enzyme-due-to-poisoning">2017 assassination</a> of Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, in Kuala Lumpur airport. </p>
<p>Unlike sarin and tabun, VX-type agents, which have an <a href="https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/vx/basics/facts.asp">oily texture and are very slow to evaporate</a>, were considered to be what’s called area-denial chemicals. Any troops, or vehicles, moving through an area where VX had been used would have to be rigorously protected, compromising their manoeuvrability and fighting efficiency. </p>
<p>Nerve agents were evolving. But so too were the kinds of targets for chemical weapons. Increasingly, they were being used against civilians.</p>
<h2>Who controls them?</h2>
<p>About 20 different nerve agents have now been manufactured and all are listed, and restricted, under the <a href="https://www.opcw.org/chemical-weapons-convention/annexes/annex-on-chemicals/schedule-1/">1997 Chemical Weapons Convention</a>. Novichoks are an exception because they have never been declared, more on which later.</p>
<p>In World War I, before the arrival of nerve agents, it was primarily troops who were affected by chemical weapons. During that conflict, <a href="http://www.firstworldwar.com/weaponry/gas.htm">some 1.5m military casualties</a> were exposed to irritants such as chlorine and phosgene, or the blistering agent mustard gas – and around 8-10% of those affected, died. Meanwhile, around 1,000 civilians were injured by chemical weapons during that war.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210993/original/file-20180319-31608-1vc4cvi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Soldiers wearing World War I gas masks. L-R: American, British. French, German.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/soldiers-wearing-ww1-gas-masks-lr-248200399?src=w2F4ZrePQ76DNIanPVVdlA-1-0">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Since World War I, however, chemical weapons have been used by <a href="https://www.sipri.org/sites/default/files/Italo-Ethiopian-war.pdf">Italy in Abyssinia</a> (now Ethiopia) in 1935-6; by Japan in China during World War II; by <a href="http://www.acpr.org.il/pp/pp046-shohamE.pdf">Egypt in Yemen between 1963 and 1967</a>; by Iraq in Iran (1983-1988) and <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/02/iraq_events/html/chemical_warfare.stm">Kurdistan (1988)</a>; and between 2013 and 2017 by <a href="https://www.opcw.org/news/article/opcw-fact-finding-mission-confirms-use-of-chemical-weapons-in-khan-shaykhun-on-4-april-2017/">the Syrian government against its own people</a>. Sarin was also used in a 1995 attack on the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/mar/20/japan-prepares-to-execute-up-to-13-members-of-aum-shinrikyo-cult">Tokyo subway by the Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult</a>, killing 13 and making thousands more ill. This is not a comprehensive list, but many of the victims of these attacks, particularly in Kurdistan and Syria, were civilians rather than troops.</p>
<p>Evidence of Iraq’s 1988 chemical attack on civilians in the <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2016/03/remembering-halabja-chemical-attack-160316061221074.html">Kurdistan town of Halabja</a>, which included the use of sarin nerve agent, accelerated discussions already underway on a comprehensive chemical weapons treaty at the UN Council on Disarmament. In 1993, the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) was agreed. In 1997, the convention became international law following ratification of the treaty by 65 countries.</p>
<p>Today, 192 countries are fully paid-up members of the convention with only <a href="https://www.opcw.org/about-opcw/member-states/">North Korea, Israel, South Sudan and Egypt</a> still not part of the group. However, as the convention is international law, these four countries are still bound by its provisions that any use of a chemical to deliberately harm another person <a href="https://www.opcw.org/chemical-weapons-convention/">constitutes use of a chemical weapon</a> – and is illegal. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.opcw.org">Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons</a> (OPCW) oversees implementation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and supervises destruction of declared chemical weapons and any production facilities for these weapons. To date, approximately 96% of declared stockpiles have been destroyed. In October 2017, Russia announced that it had <a href="https://www.opcw.org/news/article/opcw-marks-completion-of-destruction-of-russian-chemical-weapons-stockpile/">destroyed its stocks of some 40,000 tonnes</a>. The US is expected to complete destruction of its weapons stockpile by around 2021-2022.</p>
<p>In addition to supervising the destruction of stockpiles, the OPCW operates a control regime for chemicals that are either chemical weapons or could be used to make them. Every year, each signatory to the convention is required to provide the OPCW with details on the location, manufacture, use, sale or disposal of <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/chemical-weapons-convention-guidance">these substances</a>. The OPCW audits these returns and verifies them by random annual inspections of hundreds of military bases and chemical companies around the globe.</p>
<p>All manufacturing programmes which resulted in stocks of chemical weapons exceeding one tonne per year after January 1, 1946 <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/chemical-weapons-convention-guidance">must be declared to the OPCW</a>. But on March 16, 2018, the <a href="https://www.rt.com/news/421512-opcw-no-member-states-novichok/">OPCW announced</a> that it had never been notified about Novichok-type nerve agents by any state. </p>
<p>So what is Novichok and what does it do to its victims?</p>
<h2>Novichok family</h2>
<p>There is no doubt that nerve agents similar to the Novichok family exist, something that has been <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/State_Secrets.html?id=1aJQPgAACAAJ&amp;source=kp_cover&amp;redir_esc=y">described by defectors from Russia</a>. One of these was used to poison the Skripals and Bailey. </p>
<p>Nerve agents, including certain Novichoks, are part of the family of organophosphate compounds – albeit at the most toxic end of the spectrum. They all operate in a similar way by <a href="https://theconversation.com/nerve-agents-what-are-they-and-how-do-they-work-93079">inhibiting the enzyme acetylcholinesterase</a> (AChE). The enzyme can be found in various locations in the body, but it’s at the junctions between nerves and muscles where its activity is most critical. AChE regulates the message from nerve to muscle by inactivating the neurotransmitter acetylcholine.</p>
<p>Acetylcholine binds to receptors at the neuromuscular junction, instructing the muscle to contract. The enzyme then removes this messenger, splits it in two, and with its removal from the receptor <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4104281/">the muscle relaxes</a>. This cycle is repeated as often as required by the demands on the muscles. </p>
<p>Inhibition of this removal and cleavage process sends all muscles into spasm and they no longer function normally. The effects are wide-ranging with the most critical being on lung and heart function. Respiratory paralysis is common in severe poisoning and the resulting lack of oxygen to critical organs, such as the heart and brain, can have serious consequences. If untreated, it may be fatal. </p>
<p>Exactly where, when and by whom these chemicals were made, however, and how and who used them against the Skripals remain unclear, triggering a major international crisis. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/210995/original/file-20180319-31633-1jkfc7i.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Was Putin really behind the Skripals nerve agent attack?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/download/success?src=4IlReLXi-UF6IkeI75fUug-1-11">Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The UK is now exercising its <a href="https://www.gov.uk/guidance/chemical-weapons-convention-guidance">rights under the CWC</a> and has asked the OPCW to investigate Russia’s so-called Novichok programme. This is the first time one party to the CWC has accused another of attacking it with a chemical weapon. It will be a major challenge for the OPCW, which has been invited to send inspectors to the UK to collect samples for testing. The OPCW will use its own laboratory in Rijswijk, next to The Hague, and perhaps one of some 20 other designated facilities around the world to confirm the exact identity of the nerve agent. </p>
<p>Once it is confirmed, the OPCW will endeavour to find out more. However, it has never pointed the finger of blame at a user. Its remit is to confirm the use or identity of chemical agents and it can be called upon to carry out inspections in countries accused of using one. Others, such as the UN, will then assess the evidence and do the finger pointing. This is what happened when Syria was accused in 2017 of using chemical weapons against its own population.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/russian-spy-attack-shows-international-law-on-chemical-weapons-is-not-fit-for-purpose-93315">Russian spy attack shows international law on chemical weapons is not fit for purpose</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The CWC does not preclude bilateral action by its signatories – and Britain and Russia have already begun expelling each other’s diplomats over the row. Russia has also <a href="https://www.dailysabah.com/europe/2018/03/17/russia-expels-23-uk-diplomats-closes-british-council">closed the British Council</a> and a UK consulate in St Petersburg.</p>
<h2>On the ground</h2>
<p>But what of the situation on the ground in Salisbury, where the Skripals were attacked? <a href="https://theconversation.com/russian-spy-attack-how-toxic-chemicals-can-cause-widespread-contamination-93309">Nerve agents</a> can poison somebody though inhalation, ingestion or skin contact which is why investigators in Salisbury are wearing full <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-43328976">protective clothing and gas masks</a>. </p>
<p>In fact, it is now the investigators, rather than the public, who face the risk of sustained exposure to any contamination. Some 130 people have so far been identified who may have been in contact with the agent but <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43315636">none beyond the Skripals and Bailey have shown any symptoms</a>.</p>
<p>It was reported that the Skripals were essentially comatose when discovered and so were <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43315636">unable to say how they felt</a>. But paramedics would likely have found the couple struggling to breathe. They may also have noticed twitching muscles, a glassy appearance to the eyes with pinpoint pupils and profuse salivation. In hospital, there may have been evidence of increasing fluid build-up in the lungs, and their heart rates may either have been rapid or slowed, and uneven. </p>
<p><a href="http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/42611/1/9241546158.pdf">Effects on the brain</a> would be less evident as the couple were unconscious, but can include restlessness, headache, confusion and convulsions. A part of the brain is concerned with regulation of respiration and this may be affected directly, slowing breathing. A fall in blood pressure is also likely.</p>
<h2>Possible treatments</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/661750/Nerve_agents_incident_management_201117.pdf">Antidotes to reverse the clinical effects</a> of nerve agents are available and are more likely to be successful if administered early. Around 200 cases of less severe accidental poisoning and four severe ones have been reported since 1948. </p>
<p>In all of the severe cases, the person poisoned lost consciousness and breathing was inhibited. But prompt treatment by doctors who were nearby and aware of the potential for exposure resulted in the <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/Chemical_Warfare_Agents.html?id=nzVF04525ukC&amp;source=kp_cover&amp;redir_esc=y">victims’ full recovery</a>. </p>
<p>In a quirk of fate, the UK’s own defence teams against chemical weapons are located at Porton Down, just outside Salisbury. Indeed, there have also been tests on hundreds of military servicemen with <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/uk/1999/sep/03/freedomofinformation.politics">small doses of nerve agents</a> and in 1953, after one poorly conducted test in the UK, a 20-year-old leading aircraftman, Ronald Maddison, died. The 2004 inquest into his death returned a verdict of <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/wiltshire/4013767.stm">unlawful killing</a>. It’s also claimed that in the Novichok programme one person was accidentally <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books/about/State_Secrets.html?id=1aJQPgAACAAJ&amp;source=kp_cover&amp;redir_esc=y">exposed and died</a>.</p>
<p>Treatment can include the rapid administration of <a href="https://chemm.nlm.nih.gov/countermeasure_atropine-sulfate.htm">atropine</a>. This blocks the effects of acetylcholine accumulation by occupying the same receptors and reverses some symptoms, but has <a href="http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/42611/1/9241546158.pdf%20accessed%2017%20March%202017">little effect on skeletal muscle</a>. The rule of thumb is to maintain dosing of atropine (at intervals) until the heart rate is over 90 beats per minute. Administration may be necessary for a <a href="https://chemm.nlm.nih.gov/countermeasure_atropine-sulfate.htm#indication">significant period</a>.</p>
<p>Drugs known as oximes can also be used as an antidote. These restore enzyme activity and, crucially, <a href="http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/42611/1/9241546158.pdf%20accessed%2017%20March%202017">skeletal muscle function</a>. But oximes tend to be specific for certain types of nerve agent and it is unclear which would work with the specific Novichok agent as there is little information in the public domain about them or their effective treatments. Faced with this dilemma, the clinicians treating the Skripals and Bailey would have had to have made a choice. </p>
<p>A third drug used in nerve agent poisoning is diazepam, which can prevent any <a href="http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/42611/1/9241546158.pdf%20accessed%2017%20March%202017">dangerous convulsions which might occur</a>. Regrettably, however, <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/0272059085901101">evidence</a> indicates that severe nerve agent poisoning can cause long-term irreversible changes in brain function. </p>
<p>Nerve agents are grotesque weapons and their use against civilians is a deeply disturbing trend. But in the weeks to come, there will have to be a dispassionate review of the evidence. And as the spat between Russia, and the UK and its allies worsens, cool heads will be needed. </p>
<p>Amid all this frenetic activity, however, we must not forget the three victims – and wish them a swift recovery. After all, they are the ones paying the heaviest price.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/nerve-agents-what-are-they-and-how-do-they-work-93079">Nerve agents: what are they and how do they work?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93562/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Alastair Hay received funding from The Rowntree Trust and Human Rights Watch to investigate allegations of the use of chemical weapons. He is a member of the Advisory Board on Education and Outreach of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons and Chairman of the UK Chemical Weapons Convention Advisory Committee. </span></em></p>A long read on how nerve agents were developed – and used in an attack on a former Russian spy on the streets of Salisbury.Alastair Hay, Professor (Emeritus) of Environmental Toxicology, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/933152018-03-14T16:39:16Z2018-03-14T16:39:16ZRussian spy attack shows international law on chemical weapons is not fit for purpose<p>The nerve agent, <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-we-know-about-novichok-the-newby-nerve-agents-linked-to-russia-93264">Novichok</a>, used to attack a former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Salisbury is similar to substances such as soman or sarin used to produce chemical weapons. International law bans chemical weapons through the <a href="https://www.opcw.org/chemical-weapons-convention/">1992 Chemical Weapons Convention</a>, which requires its 192 state signatories to refrain from using, producing and stockpiling them. </p>
<p>So, with this ban in place, how is it possible that someone could use a nerve agent to attack two people?</p>
<p><a href="https://www.opcw.org/chemical-weapons-convention/articles/article-ii-definitions-and-criteria/">The convention</a> defines chemical weapons as toxic chemical substances employed in an unlawful way, contrary to the convention. It aims to prohibit the use, production and possession of chemical weapons, and also requires the destruction of chemical weapons and their production facilities.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/nerve-agents-what-are-they-and-how-do-they-work-93079">Nerve agents: what are they and how do they work?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Toxic chemical substances are not prohibited per se: it is their association with a forbidden purpose that makes them a chemical weapon, subject to the regulations of the convention. Despite the fact that toxic chemicals could be used to make chemical weapons, they are not subject to the same strict regulations as chemical weapons, such as the prohibition of their use or transfer. Instead, they are subject to verification measures and to limits on their production and storage. </p>
<h2>An inherent paradox</h2>
<p>The convention perfectly mirrors the paradox behind chemical weapons. These powerful weapons are made up of substances that are often easy to produce. Some, such as chlorine, contained in <a href="https://theconversation.com/syria-chlorine-attack-claims-what-this-chemical-is-and-how-it-became-a-weapon-65068">drugs as hydrochloric acid</a>, are even used in medicine, agriculture or industry. For instance, toxic chemicals can be found during <a href="https://www.opcw.org/about-chemical-weapons/types-of-chemical-agent/nerve-agents/">research for new pesticides</a>. This means that what makes the difference between a toxic chemical substance and a chemical weapon is the purpose behind its use. </p>
<p>This logic can also apply to more ordinary objects, such as a knife or drug. A person can use a knife to slice some bread, while a doctor can administer a drug to treat a patient. However, if those items fall into the wrong hands, they can be used to kill or seriously harm someone. In light of the dual use of these items, the law cannot completely ban knives and drugs. What it can do is to establish precautions that minimise the risk of knives and drugs being used in an unlawful way. The same logic applies to the use of toxic chemical substances. </p>
<p>According to Theresa May’s <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/pm-commons-statement-on-salisbury-incident-12-march-2018">statement to MPs</a> on March 12, the substance used in the Salisbury attack – Novichok – was a nerve agent similar to toxic substances that are already regulated by the Convention on Chemical Weapons, but it is <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-43377698">not banned</a> under it. The prime minister said the substance belongs to a category of toxic chemical, which she termed a “military-grade nerve agent of a type developed by Russia”. </p>
<h2>Getting round the law</h2>
<p>The rules of the convention regarding toxic chemical substances do not apply in this case, due to the fact that there was nothing to regulate. </p>
<p>This just shows how important international cooperation and transparency among countries on this issue are. International legal instruments on weapons cannot function without constant updates regarding chemical production and new technological developments. The convention requires states to share the details about any production of chemicals with the <a href="https://www.opcw.org/">Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons</a>, the body in charge of the enforcement of the convention. States must declare information including the type of chemical that will be produced and the quantity. Such a declaration should have been done before Novichok was produced.</p>
<p>After the discovery of a new chemical, the convention provides guidelines for updating its <a href="https://www.opcw.org/chemical-weapons-convention/annexes/annex-on-chemicals/#c12005">lists of chemicals</a>, along with a speedy procedure to amend the relevant section of the convention.</p>
<p>Another issue concerns the military nature of the nerve agent used in Salisbury. Toxic chemicals can be produced and used for lawful purposes according to the convention, including for military, defence and protection reasons. It’s just the use of toxic chemicals as a method of warfare that is strictly prohibited. </p>
<p>If whoever produced Novichok had followed the provisions of the convention, and had disclosed details such as its name and the structural formula of the chemical, the nerve agent used in Salisbury would not actually have been banned. It would simply have been subjected to the limitations and the verification procedures of the convention that apply to other toxic substances. This is because the 1992 convention bans chemical weapons but does not prohibit the use of toxic chemical substances for peaceful or acceptable purposes.</p>
<p>It seems that whoever produced, and used Novichok to attack the Skripals, did not want to share information about this substance and the facilities able to produce it – in disregard of international law. </p>
<p>Good faith and transparency are essential for the functioning of the international law on chemical weapons – both of which currently appear to be lacking.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93315/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Riccardo Labianco does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>International law on chemical weapons fails without mutual trust and transparency.Riccardo Labianco, PhD Candidate, SOAS, University of LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/933092018-03-14T13:42:31Z2018-03-14T13:42:31ZRussian spy attack: how toxic chemicals can cause widespread contamination<p>The recent attempted poisoning of the former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter has led to warnings about the spread of the toxic chemical used in the attack. Hundreds of people who visited the restaurant where the attack is thought to have taken place <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-britain-russia-hammond/hundreds-urged-to-wash-clothes-after-uk-nerve-agent-attack-idUSKCN1GN0AK">have been told</a> to wash their clothes to avoid any chance of contamination with the suspected “Novichok” <a href="https://theconversation.com/nerve-agents-what-are-they-and-how-do-they-work-93079">nerve agent</a>.</p>
<p>The danger to the public is thankfully thought to be minimal, with only a small risk coming from prolonged, repeated exposure to the tiny amounts of the chemical. But how do experts know what the danger really is in a situation like this? In order to assess the situation, they need to consider how much of the chemical was released, how it came into contact with people, and how it spreads and degrades in the environment.</p>
<p>We can be exposed to chemicals through our skin, by breathing them in, eating them, or injecting them into our blood. And the exact route can make a huge difference, just as breathing in oxygen keeps us alive but injecting <a href="https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/Air-embolism/">it can kill us</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-five-most-poisonous-substances-from-polonium-to-mercury-29619">most toxic compounds</a> are lethal even in tiny doses. For example, the botulinum toxins, the most toxic substances ever discovered, can kill with just a few nanograms per kilogram of bodyweight if injected into veins or muscles. If inhaled, the lethal dose is in the tens of nanograms per kilogram of bodyweight.</p>
<p>Many of the best-known lethal substances, such as cyanide or arsenic, must be ingested to take effect. But other deadly compounds can be absorbed simply by touching them. This was what happened in <a href="https://www.acsh.org/news/2016/06/06/two-drops-of-death-dimethylmercury">the case of Katrin Wetterhahn</a>, a professor in analytical chemistry who accidentally dropped a small amount of dimethylmercury onto her latex gloved hand. As this compounds easily diffused through latex, it was taken up by her body through the skin. She died of mercury poisoning five months later.</p>
<p>Sergei Skripal was poisoned with one of a class of nerve agents <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-we-know-about-novichok-the-newby-nerve-agents-linked-to-russia-93264">known as Novichok</a> agents and chemically described as organophosphorus compounds. They act as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor, which means that they <a href="https://theconversation.com/nerve-agents-what-are-they-and-how-do-they-work-93079">disrupt the central nervous system</a>. These compounds can come in solid, liquid or gas form, and we know nerve agents work when ingested or inhaled. But it’s not yet clear what specific chemical compound was used in this case and how it was administered. Because of this, we don’t know how much of the agent was needed or how the victims were exposed.</p>
<p>How dangerous a chemical can be also depends on how easily it can spread and contaminate the environment. The physicochemistry of a substance plays an important role here. Arsenic has a melting point of over 600℃ so if it were sprinkled into food it would be unlikely to travel far from the plate because it is solid at room temperature. </p>
<p>But lethal compounds dispersed as gases, like the alleged use of chlorine gas in the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-42675657">Syrian civil war</a>, can result in the instant spread of the chemical across a wide area. This means they can affect many more people, although as they become more widely dispersed they become less harmful to individuals because the doses people receive are lower. Similarly, poisons in liquid or aerosol form, or <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/06/alexander-litvinenko-and-the-most-radioactive-towel-in-history">radioactive solutions</a> can be <a href="https://www.newscientist.com/blog/shortsharpscience/2006/12/newton-explains-litvinenko-mystery.html">easily transferred</a> from one surface to another.</p>
<p>Once they’ve entered the environment, chemicals often begin to change or break down, rendering them less harmful over time. For example, when chlorine gas comes into contact with an oxidisable material, such as wood or clothing, it changes into a harmless, inert chloride compound.</p>
<h2>Radioactive materials</h2>
<p>In the case of radioactive material, how long the substance is dangerous depends on how quickly its atoms lose energy, a process known as radioactive decay and measured by what’s called a half-life. When another former Russian spy, Alexander Litvinenko, was assassinated in the UK in 2006, the murder weapon was radioactive polonium-210 put into his cup of tea. Polonium-210 has a half life of 138 days, meaning after this time half of its atoms have emitted an alpha particle and decayed into lead-206 atoms.</p>
<p>This alpha radiation emitted inside his body after he had drunk the poisoned tea was what made Litvinenko ill and eventually <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-33678717">killed him a month later</a>. But those who came into close contact with him, such as his nurses, would have been much less exposed to the radiation. Alpha particles do not travel a long way and are stopped by even minor obstacles such as a piece of paper or human skin.</p>
<p>Organophosphorus nerve agents including Novichok and sarin, which was used in the <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/world-asia-18455007/archive-nerve-gas-attack-shocks-tokyo">Tokyo subway attack</a> that resulted in 13 deaths, are unstable and break down gradually over time or when exposed to water. This is why washing your clothes after being exposed to such a compound could be enough to get rid of it. In fact, organophosphorus-based nerve agents are so unstable that they are often stored as two or more separate compounds and then combined when needed.</p>
<p>The ability to react easily with other substances is what makes lethal chemicals so dangerous, to both their intended victims and innocent bystanders. As a result, these aggressive substances do not typically linger for long. But if they encounter something that holds them on its surface until it releases them again, this can extend their potentially damaging lifetime. Metallic door handles are a good example for the transfer of material from one person to another.</p>
<p>For those cleaning up a contaminated site, all these factors are vital to understanding what they are facing and how they can prevent anyone else falling victim to a deadly chemical.</p>
<p><em>This article has been amended to state that polonium-210 has a half-life of 138 days and decays into lead-206, not 139 days and polonium-206 as originally stated.</em></p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/sergei-skripal-and-the-long-history-of-assassination-attempts-abroad-93021">Sergei Skripal and the long history of assassination attempts abroad</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93309/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Vera Thoss does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Hundreds of people have been warned after former Russian spy Sergei Skripal was poisoned with Novichok nerve agent.Vera Thoss, Lecturer in Sustainable Chemistry, Bangor UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/932522018-03-13T17:24:53Z2018-03-13T17:24:53ZRussian spy attack: why Britain is limited in how it responds to Russia<p>It is “highly likely” that Russia was to blame for the attack on former Russian spy Sergei Skripal and his daughter using a <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-we-know-about-novichok-the-newby-nerve-agents-linked-to-russia-93264">deadly nerve agent</a>, British Prime Minister Theresa May <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43377856">told MPs</a>. The government is now waiting for a response from Russian diplomats before formulating its response, though Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov has already <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/sergei-skripal-russia-nerve-agent-novichok-demands-sample-lavrov-vladimir-putin-kremlin-a8253121.html">denied</a> the country is to blame.</p>
<p>But how can Britain respond to the attack in Salisbury in a way that shows the public that the government can protect national security while also being effective in the murky world of counterespionage? The options are limited and none are likely to be that effective.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/nerve-agents-what-are-they-and-how-do-they-work-93079">Nerve agents: what are they and how do they work?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Britain is currently part of the EU sanctions regime against Russia, imposed after its <a href="https://theconversation.com/now-crimeas-in-the-bag-where-next-for-putin-and-russia-24521">annexation of Crimea</a> in 2014. These include trade and financial sanctions as well as targeted sanctions against individuals at the heart of the office of Russian president, Vladmir Putin. The <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/08/02/do-sanctions-work-the-evidence-isnt-compelling/?utm_term=.206276e6ff28">impact</a> of these sanctions on Russian government policy is, however, slim. </p>
<p>The attack on the Skripals bears similarities to the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko in 2006 with the radioactive agent polonium. The government inquest into Litvinenko’s killing took nearly a decade and, in 2016 found that Putin’s office was “probably” at the heart of the decision to kill the former spy. The <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38560439">US</a> and UK froze the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/live/2016/jan/21/inquiry-into-the-death-of-alexander-litvinenko-live-updates">assets of those deemed responsible</a> for the assassination, Andrei Lugovoi and Dmitry Kovtum. American and European allies jumped forward to support the UK to protest this brazen attack.</p>
<p>The White House remained silent on the Skripal attack for days, but Donald Trump <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/live/2018/mar/13/tillerson-firmly-backs-uk-over-salisbury-spy-poisoning-as-white-house-refuses-to-blame-russia-politics-live?page=with:block-5aa7d2a9e4b0d60f07ce4d0b#block-5aa7d2a9e4b0d60f07ce4d0b">has now indicated</a> that he will be talking to May about it.</p>
<h2>Piling on sanctions</h2>
<p>The EU sanctions could go further, though the UK’s welcoming attitude to Russian finance and investment in the City of London has so far been a barrier to this. So too has the attitude of many southern EU member states who see Russia as a major investor in their economies rather than a territorial or political threat. Further action would take a major change in the way that the West seeks to counter Russia at home and abroad.</p>
<p>Some may argue that escalating sanctions against Russia in 2018 – particularly given the complexity of the quagmire in Syria and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-mideast-crisis-syria-analysis/in-syria-russia-securing-position-as-assad-presses-war-idUSKBN1E91UU">Russia’s role</a> in supporting the Assad regime there – might be counterproductive. Still, the UK government is under growing pressure to do something in response to the Salisbury attack and the threat to the public health of its citizens. </p>
<p>In the first instance, more sanctions against Russian financial assets could be introduced that would mirror the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2017/07/14/the-magnitsky-act-explained/?utm_term=.f5dc8e5044c6">US Magnitsky Act</a>, which has gone further than the EU’s sanctions in targeting financial interests and corruption close to Putin and his closest advisers. Introduced in the US in 2012, the act gives the government powers to put sanctions on people suspected of human rights abuses around the world. </p>
<p>The problem for the UK would be coming to terms with the scale of Russian investment in the UK that would currently <a href="http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/12/news/uk-russia-sanctions-sergei-skripal/index.html">contravene</a> the Magnitsky Act. </p>
<p>The biggest challenge, however, would be the near irrelevance of further sanctions at this stage of the contest between the West and Russia. Sanctions are more likely to work at the beginning of a conflict, and <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/08/02/do-sanctions-work-the-evidence-isnt-compelling/?utm_term=.206276e6ff28">become increasingly irrelevant</a> the longer it goes on, with the first six months of sanctions being the most effective. With sanctions against Russia in place since 2014, a new round is therefore unlikely to have much impact. </p>
<h2>Support to Russia’s enemies</h2>
<p>The UK could also move to counter Russian intelligence on UK soil. The goal would be to direct UK security services to make it increasingly difficult for Russian intelligence operatives to work on the ground – and more difficult to get nerve agents or other poisons into the country. This has the potential to be more successful in protecting the UK against such brazen attacks than further sanctions would, but it could stretch British security services further at a time when global jihadism and cyberattacks are already heaping pressure on counterespionage agencies. And it would be done behind closed doors, rather than as a public response to the Skripal attack. </p>
<p>An escalation of support for Ukraine is perhaps the most likely response even if it is not tied specifically to the Skripal attack. While current Russian military involvement in the Donbas region of Ukraine <a href="https://theconversation.com/ukraine-is-still-on-the-edge-despite-all-efforts-to-stabilise-it-92004">has lessened</a>, it has continued to support the “people’s republics” in Donetsk and Lugansk through material aid and armaments. Further material aid and armaments for Ukrainian forces would be an operationally effective response from the UK – though it would not necessarily prevent another attack on the UK.</p>
<p>The final – and least probable response – would be a quid pro quo attack on Russian intelligence assets in Russia itself, either counterespionage or a cyber offensive. But Russia has the potential and wherewithal to escalate this tension between the West and Russia even further. Any attack on Russia itself, even if targeted at people who spied on the West – such as <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/sergei-skripal-traitor-russian-spy-anna-chapman-model-salisbury-nerve-agent-a8250031.html">Anna Chapman</a>, the Russian spy for who Skripal was swapped – would further deteriorate the UK-Russian relationship.</p>
<p>The most likely outcome is a combination of further sanctions, extra counterespionage as an effective tool for the British security services, and further support for Ukraine in order to agitate Russia through a proxy to avoid open escalation. </p>
<p>None of these activities are transformative. But perhaps neither is the Skripal attack – although the breaking of a Cold War <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2018/03/12/salisbury-taboo-has-breached-partly-fault/">taboo</a> against the use of chemical weapons, suggests that the potential for further escalation is increasing. While there will be Western politicians who call for restraint against further escalation, these will be the same politicians who fail to see that Russia has transformed what some may call a Cold War into something much warmer.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93252/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David J Galbreath receives funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council and Economic and Social Research Council.</span></em></p>The UK is pointing the finger at Russia for the nerve agent attack on a former spy. How should the government react?David J Galbreath, Professor of International Security, Director of Centre for War and Technology, University of BathLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/932642018-03-13T10:24:34Z2018-03-13T10:24:34ZWhat we know about Novichok, the 'newby' nerve agents linked to Russia<p>A Soviet-designed “Novichok” chemical is the nerve agent responsible for poisoning a former spy and his daughter, British Prime Minister Theresa May <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43377856">said today</a>. </p>
<p>Sergei and Julia Skripal were found collapsed on a park bench on Sunday March 4 in the English town of Salisbury, a few hours after eating lunch and spending time at <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43360420">a restaurant and pub nearby</a>. </p>
<p>As <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43377856">reported by the BBC</a>, May said the UK must stand ready to take “extensive measures” if Russia does not provide an adequate explanation for the use of this agent on British soil. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/nerve-agents-what-are-they-and-how-do-they-work-93079">Nerve agents: what are they and how do they work?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>What are the origins of Novichok?</h2>
<p>The Novichok group of molecules are nerve agents developed by the Soviets from the late 1970s – but never produced on a large scale, at least to the best of public knowledge. They are referred to as third generation nerve agents to indicate their production as a follow-on to the G-series agents such as sarin (also referred to as “GB”) developed in Germany prior to WWII, and the V-series agents (such as VX gas) first developed by the UK in the 1950’s.</p>
<p>The name “Novichok” translates colloquially from Russian as “newbies”.</p>
<p>Scientists who worked on the Novichok project disclosed details from 1992 onwards. <a href="https://www.stimson.org/sites/default/files/file-attachments/Report17_1.pdf">They stated</a> that the project goals included developing weapons that:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>could not be detected by the then standard NATO chemical weapons detection sensors</p></li>
<li><p>have potential to circumvent the Chemical Weapons Convention</p></li>
<li><p>would be easier to produce using methods and materials prevalent in pesticides industries</p></li>
<li><p>were designed from the outset to be “binary” chemical weapons (where two relatively non-toxic materials are mixed together just before dispersal to minimise the danger to the personnel delivering the weapons).</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>How would Novichok use be confirmed?</h2>
<p>Members of the public <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-06/ex-russian-spy-critically-ill-after-exposure-to-substance-in-uk/9516538">said</a> that Julie Skripal appeared passed out on the park bench in Salisbury, and her father was making strange movements with his hand. The two remain in a critical condition in hospital.</p>
<p>Nerve agents like Novichok are all organophosphate compounds, which act by <a href="https://theconversation.com/chemical-weapons-in-syria-who-what-where-when-why-17581">blocking the normal processes</a> that <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-vx-nerve-agent-and-how-does-it-work-73603">control nerve activity</a>. </p>
<p>Symptoms are given the mnemonic “SLUGEM”:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>Salivation - the famous “foaming at the mouth”</p></li>
<li><p>Lacrimation - “crying”, or tears pouring from the eyes</p></li>
<li><p>Urination, Defecation</p></li>
<li><p>Gastrointestinal distress</p></li>
<li><p>Emesis (vomiting) - as the body loses control over muscles, particularly those of the sphincters</p></li>
<li><p>Miosis - one of the key diagnostics; the muscles that cause the pupil to constrict become fully activated and the pupils become pinpoints in the iris. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>The final “‘M” is sometimes given as “muscle spasms”. The type of spasms associated with organophosphate poisoning are somewhat diagnostic. </p>
<p>Although some of these symptoms are common with other nervous system disruptions, doctors are taught to look for these symptoms together as a sign of exposure to organophosphates. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-vx-nerve-agent-and-how-does-it-work-73603">Explainer: what is VX nerve agent and how does it work?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Apart from the physical signs and symptoms, to confirm identity of the agent, police and doctors take blood or other fluid samples, or wipe the patient’s skin with a gauze to pick up any residue of the agent. Those samples are reasonably stable and could be sent to an analytical chemistry laboratory for identification. </p>
<p>The UK has an Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (<a href="https://www.opcw.org/">OPCW</a>) designated laboratory run by the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory, Chemical and Biological Systems. The lab is located at Porton Down, around 10 miles from the scene of the attack.</p>
<p>In Australia, the equivalent OPCW designated laboratory is operated by the Defence Science and Technology Group. </p>
<p>The Handbook of Recommended Operating Procedures for Analysis in the Verification of Chemical Disarmament (also known as <a href="http://www.helsinki.fi/verifin/bluebook/BlueBook.2011.01.pdf">“the Blue Book</a>”) does not have a specific method for detecting Novichok agents. However, it would be reasonable to assume that they would be detectable by the methods available to a well equipped defence science laboratory. </p>
<h2>How could Novichok have been administered?</h2>
<p>Nerve agents such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-we-know-about-the-april-4-chemical-attack-in-syria-76012">sarin</a> are typically used in the form of a gas or vapour. But Novichok agents can be made in a solid form, most likely a <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/neuroscience/novichok-agent">powder</a>. This would make them a relatively simple agent to be used on a battlefield (as may have been the original design motivation), or to add to food or to be left in a home as may be the case with the Skripals. </p>
<p>Nerve agents are <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.3109/01480545.2014.900070">bioavailable from the gut</a> - that is, they can absorb into the body after being eaten. That route of delivery isn’t well studied, but is consistent with the slightly slower onset of symptoms in Sergei and Julia Skripal. </p>
<p>In comparison, nerve agents administered via aerosol or spray are effective very quickly - <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-02-15/kim-jong-un-half-brother-kim-jong-nam-dies-in-malaysia/8270840">Kim Jong-Nam died</a> shortly after facial exposure to <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-10-05/kim-jong-nam-murder-trial-vx-nerve-agent-found/9020186">nerve agent VX</a> in a Malaysian airport. </p>
<p>Novichok agents are said to be particularly effective at penetrating the central nervous system (that is, the brain and spinal column) and causing more severe neurological symptoms than is typical for other nerve agents. </p>
<p>As well as Sergei and Julia Skripal, a policeman has become seriously ill as a result of this incident - it’s <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/russia-spy-latest-salisbury-police-officer-nick-bailey-nerve-agent-not-a-hero-a8249711.html">not clear</a> whether this was through attending to the sick pair on the bench, or visiting Sergei Skripal’s house. </p>
<p>Furthermore, the UK government has issued a <a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/public-health-advice-following-salisbury-nerve-agent-incident">public health advisory notice</a> for people who were in the pub and/or the restaurant at which the Skripals may have been poisoned. For people who may have been exposed to very small amounts of Novichok, the advised washing of clothing would act to dilute or deactivate the compounds. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="http://theconversation.com/russia-not-so-much-a-re-rising-superpower-as-a-skilled-strategic-spoiler-90916">Russia not so much a (re)rising superpower as a skilled strategic spoiler</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Will the ex-spy and his daughter survive?</h2>
<p>A <a href="http://articles.baltimoresun.com/1992-10-18/news/1992292006_1_chemical-weapons-research-nerve-gases/2">reported case</a> of accidental exposure of a Russian physicist to Novichok in 1987 described the following events: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>He staggered out of the room, his vision seared by brilliant colors and hallucinations. He collapsed, and the KGB took him to a hospital. </p>
<p>By the time he arrived his breathing was labored. In another hour, his heart would have stopped. His entire nervous system was gradually ceasing to function. </p>
<p>The physicist was lucky. The hospital he was taken to, the Sklifosovsky Institute, includes the nation’s top center for poison treatment.</p>
<p>There, Dr. Yevgeny Vedernikov saved his life.</p>
<p>But the scientist was at the edge of death, unaware of his surroundings, for 10 days. He couldn’t walk for six months. He was dogged by depression and an inability to concentrate. He found it difficult even to read. To this day his arms are still weak, and he has never been able to return to work.</p>
<p>Although he survived, the gas left him with permanent disabilities.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>This previous incident suggests that while the Skripals could theoretically recover, they may not be in a fit state to act as reliable witnesses to their own attempted murders.</p>
<p>The question of who was responsible will remain - although British Prime Minister May has come to the conclusion <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-43381880">that</a>, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Either this was a direct action by the Russian state against our country, or the Russian government lost control of its potentially catastrophically damaging nerve agent and allowed it to get into the hands of others. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>We’re waiting for an official Russian response.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/93264/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin Boland does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Even if they do eventually wake up, Sergei and Julia Skripal could suffer permanent damage as a result of their exposure to a Novichok nerve agent.Martin Boland, Senior Lecturer of Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Charles Darwin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/759862017-04-11T01:52:07Z2017-04-11T01:52:07ZEnzymes versus nerve agents: Designing antidotes for chemical weapons<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164543/original/image-20170408-7394-159yw03.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;rect=134%2C0%2C1547%2C871&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Enzymes, the catalysts of biology, can engulf and break down hundreds of nerve agent molecules per second.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Image: Pymol. PDB 4E3T rcsb.org</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A chemical weapons attack that killed <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39500947">more than 80 people</a>, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/04/world/middleeast/syria-gas-attack.html">including children</a>, triggered the Trump administration’s <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/world/middleeast/syria-attack-trump.html?_r=0">recent missile strikes</a> against the Syrian government. The use of illegal nerve agents – apparently by the Assad regime – violated <a href="https://ihl-databases.icrc.org/customary-ihl/eng/docs/v1_rul_rule74">international law</a>; President Trump said he was <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/04/06/statement-president-trump-syria">moved to act by images</a> of the victims’ horrible deaths.</p>
<p>But there’s another path to mitigate the danger of chemical weapons. This route lies within the domains of science – the very same science that produced chemical weapons in the first place. Researchers in the U.S. and around the world, including here at the University of Washington’s <a href="http://www.ipd.uw.edu">Institute for Protein Design</a>, are developing the tools needed to quickly and safely destroy nerve agents – both in storage facilities and in the human body.</p>
<p>Nerve agents, a class of synthetic phosphorous-containing compounds, are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/jat/28.5.372">among the most toxic substances known</a>. Brief exposure to the most potent variants can lead to death within minutes. Once nerve agents enter the body, they irreversibly inhibit a vitally important enzyme called acetylcholinesterase. Its normal job within the nervous system is to help brain and muscle communicate. When a nerve agent shuts down this enzyme, classes of neurons throughout the central and peripheral nervous systems quickly get overstimulated, leading to <a href="https://www.opcw.org/about-chemical-weapons/types-of-chemical-agent/nerve-agents/#c4118">profuse sweating, convulsions and an excruciating death by asphyxiation</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164556/original/image-20170408-29390-75dm34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164556/original/image-20170408-29390-75dm34.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">U.S. Marine Corps specialists performing decontamination procedures.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:U.S._Marine_Corps_chemical,_biological,_radiological_and_nuclear_(CBRN)_defense_specialists_with_Marine_Wing_Headquarters_Squadron_(MWHS)_3,_3rd_Marine_Aircraft_Wing,_perform_decontamination_procedures_during_130430-M-EF955-271.jpg">Sgt. Keonaona Paulo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Chemical weapons are often associated with wars of the previous century – mustard gas in WWI, Zyklon B in WWII. But the worst variety, nerve agents, were <a href="http://cen.acs.org/articles/94/i41/Nazi-origins-deadly-nerve-gases.html">never deployed in the world wars</a>, though Nazi scientists developed the first generation of these compounds. Gerhard Schrader, the so-called <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1365-2710.2008.00972.x/full">father of nerve agents</a>, didn’t begin life as a Nazi scientist – he was developing new pesticides to combat world hunger when he accidentally synthesized the first organophosphorus nerve agent. Later, he led the research team that produced sarin, or GB, the most toxic of the all the so-called G-series nerve agents. The U.S. government stated with <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/04/06/press-briefing-secretary-state-rex-tillerson-and-national-security">“very high confidence” that sarin was used</a> in the recent attack near Idlib, Syria.</p>
<p>Beginning in 2013, teams from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons went to Syria and, with help from the Danish, Norwegian, Russian, Chinese and <a href="https://www.defense.gov/News/Article/Article/602835">U.S. government</a>, <a href="https://www.opcw.org/news/article/destruction-of-syrian-chemical-weapons-completed/">destroyed all declared stockpiles</a> of Syrian chemical weapons. It seems that either not all of Assad’s stockpiles were in fact <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/07/world/middleeast/werent-syrias-chemical-weapons-destroyed-its-complicated.html?_r=0">declared and destroyed, or that new nerve agents arrived</a> in Syria – either via the black market or chemical synthesis – in the intervening years. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164553/original/image-20170408-7394-1opyv30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164553/original/image-20170408-7394-1opyv30.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Empty sarin containers at Pine Bluff Arsenal.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Empty_sarin_containers_at_Pine_Bluff_Arsenal.jpg">U.S. Army</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Clearing chemical weapons</h2>
<p>Twenty-first-century chemists, biochemists and computer scientists are working right now to sap chemical weapons of their horrifying power by designing counter agents that safely and efficiently destroy them. </p>
<p>Sarin sitting in a container – as opposed to in a human body – is relatively easy to destroy. The simplest method is to add a soluble base and heat the mixture to near-boiling temperatures. After several hours, the vast majority – more than 99.9 percent – of the deadly compound can be broken apart by a process called hydrolysis. This is how <a href="https://www.hdiac.org/node/1936">trained specialists</a> dispose of chemical weapons like sarin. </p>
<p>Nerve agents that make their way inside the body are a different story. For starters, you clearly cannot add a near-boiling base to a person. And because nerve agents kill so quickly, any treatment that takes hours to work is a nonstarter.</p>
<p>There are chemical interventions for warding off death after exposure to certain chemical weapons. Unfortunately, these interventions are costly, difficult to dose properly and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1742-7843.2011.00678.x">are themselves quite toxic</a>. The chemical antidotes pralidoxime and the cheaper atropine <a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-syria-gas-attack-assad-sarin-chlorine-edit-0405-jm-20170404-story.html">were deployed</a> after recent attacks in Syria, but <a href="http://time.com/4727073/idlib-chemical-attack-sarin-gas-pralidoxime/">doctors in the area worry</a> their dwindling supplies offer little protection against possible future attacks. </p>
<p>For a medical intervention to work after nerve gas exposure, it has to work fast. If a first responder administers a sarin-destroying molecule, each therapeutic molecule must be capable of breaking down through hydrolysis <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.3109/10242429709003196">hundreds of nerve agent molecules per second</a>, one after another. </p>
<p>Enzymes, the genetically encoded catalysts of biology, are up for such a task. Famous enzymes include lactase, which breaks down milk sugars in those who are lactose tolerant. Another known as RuBisCO is vital to the process of carbon fixation in plants. The most efficient enzymes in your body can perform <a href="http://www.vivo.colostate.edu/hbooks/molecules/carbonic_anhydrase.html">a million reactions per second</a>, and do so under chemically mild conditions. </p>
<p>Aside from their astonishing speed, enzymes often display an equally impressive selectivity. That is, they react with only a small number of structurally similar compounds and leave all other compounds alone. Selectivity is useful in the context of the chemical soup that is the cell but problematic when it comes to xenobiotics: those compounds which are foreign to one’s biology. Man-made organophosphates such as sarin are xenobiotics. There are no enzymes that hydrolyze them well – or so we thought.</p>
<p>When farmers spray pesticides, much of it ends up on the ground. Soil bacteria living nearby are challenged by high doses of these potent foreign chemicals. It turns out that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-4571.2010.00175.x">efficient detoxifying enzymes have recently evolved</a> inside some of these microbes as a result.</p>
<p>Scientists have identified and isolated a small number of these enzymes and tested them on a range of nasty compounds, including nerve agents, which are structurally similar to some pesticides. A select few did indeed show hydrolytic activity.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164558/original/image-20170408-29399-hwdml4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/164558/original/image-20170408-29399-hwdml4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scientists are using computers to design a new generation of proteins to solve 21st-century problems.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">UW Institute for Protein Design</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Improving on the discovery</h2>
<p>Researchers have taken these naturally occurring enzymes as raw material. Then, using <a href="http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/cb4004892">computer modeling and controlled evolution in the lab</a>, we’ve bolstered the efficiency of the originally found anti-nerve agent enzymes. Enzymes that initially showed only modest activity have been turned into potential therapeutics against VX – a chemical cousin of sarin and the most toxic nerve agent of all.</p>
<p>In a proof-of-concept study conducted jointly by researchers in Germany and Israel in late 2014, guinea pigs under anesthesia were exposed to lethal doses of VX, followed by optimized VX-destroying proteins. Low doses of the protein drug, even after a 15-minute delay, resulted in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.toxlet.2014.09.003">survival of all animals</a> and only moderate toxicity.</p>
<p>Despite these promising advances, no enzyme yet exists which is efficient enough for lifesaving use in people. Scientists are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.777">refining these microscopic machines</a>, and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/nature19946">new paradigms in computer-aided protein engineering</a> are unlocking the door to this and other applications of biomolecular design. We may be only a few years away from developing the kind of therapeutics that would make chemical weapons a worry of the past. </p>
<p>As the world grieves over the latest attacks in Syria, it is worth keeping in mind the awesome and often complex power of science. In trying to combat hunger, one might accidentally invent liquid death. In studying soil microbes, one might discover a tool to prevent atrocities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/75986/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ian Haydon works at the Institute for Protein Design and receives funding from the National Science Foundation.</span></em></p>Scientists invented chemical weapons; some are now working to destroy them. New biomolecular design techniques let researchers design proteins that can destroy nerve agents in bodies.Ian Haydon, Doctoral Student in Biochemistry, University of WashingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/736032017-02-24T07:08:24Z2017-02-24T07:08:24ZExplainer: what is VX nerve agent and how does it work?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/158248/original/image-20170224-32705-vb4fpp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Little protection against the deadly VX nerve agent.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Bubbers BB</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The substance that could be responsible for the death Kim Jong-nam, the half-brother of the North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, was the VX nerve agent, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/feb/24/kim-jong-nam-north-korea-killed-chemical-weapon-nerve-agent-mass-destruction-malaysian-police">according to preliminary reports</a> from Malaysian police.</p>
<p>Kim Jong-nam died on February 13 from a seizure on his way to hospital after complaining that a woman had sprayed chemicals on his face at Kuala Lumpur airport.</p>
<p>The Royal Malaysia Police <a href="http://www.rmp.gov.my/news-detail/2017/02/24/media-statement-inspector-general-of-police">said in a statement</a> that the results of dry swab tests on the “death of a North Korean national” identified the chemical as “Ethyl S-2-Diisopropylaminoethyl Methylphosphonothiolate”, also known as “VX nerve agent”.</p>
<h2>What is VX?</h2>
<p>VX is a lethal chemical weapon in the V-series of nerve agents. Although commonly referred to as nerve gases, the chemicals are usually liquids at room temperature.</p>
<p>The V-series were first developed in the UK in the mid-1950s. Like all <a href="https://theconversation.com/chemical-weapons-in-syria-who-what-where-when-why-17581">nerve agents</a>, the V-series block the biological action of the enzyme <a href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/acetylcholinesterase">acetylcholinesterase</a> (AChE). </p>
<p>AChE is responsible for metabolising the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, which in turn is responsible for the transmission of a nerve impulse across the gap (called a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhowH0kb7n0">synapse</a>) between two nerve cells.</p>
<p>By preventing AChE from metabolising acetylcholine, the nerve agent causes the synapse to become flooded with the neurotransmitter. This saturation leads to the nerve being constantly switched “on”. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJTdx1GbEqU">In the case of nerves that control muscles</a>, this means that the muscle is constantly receiving a signal to contract. </p>
<p>Constant muscle contraction becomes a problem when the muscles in question are the ones that control the expansion of the rib cage, to fill the lungs with air. If these muscles are continuously trying to contract, the body is constantly trying to fill the lungs with air, and thus not allowing the body to expel air from the lungs. </p>
<p>The victim of such a nerve agent usually dies from <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_oouhWBdYf0">asphyxiation</a> due to not being able to breathe out.</p>
<h2>Other symptoms</h2>
<p>Although asphyxiation is usually the ultimate cause of death, exposure to AChE inhibitors has a wide range of symptoms, including runny nose, drooling and contraction of the pupils.</p>
<p>Unlike the nerve agent sarin, which was used to attack the <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/03/20/national/tokyo-marks-20th-anniversary-of-aums-deadly-sarin-attack-on-subway-system/">Tokyo subway</a> and <a href="http://www.un.org/zh/focus/northafrica/cwinvestigation.pdf">Ghouta</a>, a suburb of Damascus in Syria, the V-series are termed “persistent” agents.</p>
<p>In chemical weapons terms, persistent means that the agent has a <a href="https://www.opcw.org/about-chemical-weapons/types-of-chemical-agent/nerve-agents/#c4121">low volatility</a>. In turn, this means that it can be used in relatively confined spaces (such as an airport terminal) with less risk of obvious adverse effects on bystanders or the perpetrators.</p>
<p>But low doses of nerve agent have been linked with <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16962140">long-term effects</a> in people who did not exhibit clinical symptoms at the time of exposure.</p>
<p>All nerve agents can affect the body either through inhalation or skin contact. The V-series are usually associated with entering the body through skin contact.</p>
<p>Another advantage of using VX for any would-be assassin, is that the amount of VX needed to kill is around 10mg (1/100th of a gram). That is around a tenth of the amount of sarin needed to cause death, and a droplet around the size of the nib of a ballpoint pen. </p>
<h2>Who has VX?</h2>
<p>VX has been used before as a mode of assassination. Members of <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2015/03/14/national/history/cult-attraction-aum-shinrikyos-power-persuasion/#.WK_UlhL5hVo">Aum Shinrikyo</a> used VX to <a href="http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2003/04/25/national/cases-asahara-stands-accused-in/#.WK_UJRLfpVo">kill a suspected traitor</a> to the Japanese cult. </p>
<p>The cult also provided their members with the antidote to nerve agent poisoning during the attack on the Tokyo subway. This shows that it is possible for perpetrators to use a nerve agent as a weapon in close proximity, without needing to use bulky protective equipment, or risk lethal exposure themselves.</p>
<p>Since discovery, V-agents have been researched, produced and stockpiled by several countries. Most of those countries have now given up their offensive chemical weapons programs and are in the process of destroying their stockpiles and placing their means of production under international monitoring via the <a href="https://www.opcw.org/">Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)</a>.</p>
<p>OPCW oversees the <a href="https://www.opcw.org/chemical-weapons-convention/download-the-cwc/">Chemical Weapons Convention</a> (CWC). Under the CWC, <a href="https://www.opcw.org/chemical-weapons-convention/annexes/annex-on-chemicals/schedule-1/">VX and all nerve agents (and their precursors that have no other legitimate industrial use)</a> are illegal to produce or procure.</p>
<p>North Korea is one of only four countries that have not signed or acceded to the CWC. The North Korean government is <a href="http://www.nti.org/learn/countries/north-korea/chemical/">believed to have a stockpile of chemical weapons</a>, including V-series agents and can manufacture them in industrial quantities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/73603/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin Boland does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Malaysian police have identified a chemical the could have led to the death of the North Korean leader's half brother as the deadly VX nerve agent.Martin Boland, Senior Lecturer of Medicinal and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Charles Darwin UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/175812013-08-28T04:43:31Z2013-08-28T04:43:31ZChemical weapons in Syria: who, what, where, when, why? <figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/30081/original/msyxn8qj-1377660066.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">UN inspectors will face several problems determining what has happened in Damascus.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">EPA/STR</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>It’s been a little more than a week since <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/un-to-inspect-alleged-chemical-weapons-attack-in-syria-lawmakers-call-for-us-military-response/2013/08/25/e171162e-0d94-11e3-bdf6-e4fc677d94a1_story.html">reports surfaced</a> of a large-scale chemical weapon attack in Syria. Governments in Europe and the <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/26/us-syria-crisis-usa-kerry-idUSBRE97P0RJ20130826">United States</a> have accused the Syrian government of attacking their own people, while the Assad government has <a href="http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/08/20138271141631363.html">pointed the finger</a> at its opponents. </p>
<p>The United Nations currently has <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/27/syria-chemical-weapons_n_3820586.html">inspectors in Damascus</a>, who have been tasked with finding out if chemical weapons were used and, if so, by whom.</p>
<p>It’s not a simple matter to decide if a chemical attack has occurred. The inspectors will be looking for evidence to support or refute one of several possibilities:</p>
<ul>
<li>a non chemical cause, such as <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_hysteria">mass hysteria</a></li>
<li>a chemical cause not related to chemical weapons</li>
<li>an attack using chemical weapons, but an improvised delivery system</li>
<li>a military chemical weapons attack using artillery or bombs.</li>
</ul>
<p>In media interviews, former weapons inspectors have said that the symptoms are in line with <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/aug/22/syria-deaths-strike-sarin-alleged-chemical">a nerve agent such as sarin</a> rather than the effects of a blistering agents such as <a href="http://www.bt.cdc.gov/agent/sulfurmustard/basics/facts.asp">sulphur mustard</a>.</p>
<p>Looking at video purported to be from the site (see below), there is none of the usual blistering associated with mustard gas attacks, although that is not always immediate, while the combination of contracted pupils, uncontrolled mucus from nose/mouth and ataxia (uncoordinated movements) would suggest nerve agent or similar poisoning.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/EMUkGZgV3UE?wmode=transparent&amp;start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">WARNING: this video contains graphic images.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What are nerve agents and how do they work?</h2>
<p>Nerve agents are <a href="http://medical-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/organophosphorus+compound">organophosphorus compounds</a> that interfere with the transmission of nerve signals. Nerve signals are how the brain receives information and sends commands to the body. Signals are electrical impulses that travel along cells such as those in the spinal cord. When the signal reaches the end of one cell it must cross a gap, called <a href="http://psychology.about.com/od/sindex/f/what-is-a-synapse.htm">a synapse</a>, to reach the next nerve cell.</p>
<p>The signal is transmitted across the synapse by chemicals called neurotransmitters. These are released from the end of a nerve cell, travel across the synapse and bind to a protein switch on the beginning of the next nerve cell, which in turn generates a new electrical impulse. </p>
<p>The transmission process does not destroy the neurotransmitter. Instead, the neurotransmitter will remain in the synapse, binding to the switch over and over again until it is either destroyed or removed from the synapse.</p>
<p>One neurotransmitter, <a href="http://neuroscience.uth.tmc.edu/s1/chapter11.html">acetylcholine</a>, is destroyed by an enzyme called <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/43">acetylcholine esterase</a>. Nerve agents bind to and block the action of acetylcholine esterase. Without the enzyme’s action, the amount of acetylcholine in the synapse never decreases. </p>
<p>Large amounts of acetylcholine repeatedly activate the protein switch leading to a constant stream of nerve signals.</p>
<p>If the nerve is one leading to a muscle, the continuous nerve signals prevent the muscle from relaxing. In fact, the muscle is continuously activating (contracting). When this occurs in the muscles that control breathing, they can only breathe in (the diaphragm contracts when we breathe in). As the victim cannot breathe out they asphyxiate. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/30080/original/gw96tj5w-1377659758.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/30080/original/gw96tj5w-1377659758.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A photo made from a handout video released by the Syrian opposition Moadamiyeh media centre is said to show UN inspectors collecting samples from a victim who was allegedly affected by a chemical gas weapon, in Moadamiyeh suburb, Damascus, Syria, on August 26. EPA cannot provide confirmation of content, authenticity, place, date and source.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Moadamiyeh Media Center/EPA </span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Causing victim’s nerves to constantly signal to contract muscles leads to the symptomatic contraction of the pupils and “twitching” seen in cases of nerve-agent poisoning. In practice, this effect is usually seen in the later stages of poisoning, earlier symptoms being a runny nose and confusion.</p>
<p>There are several nerve agents that have differing physical and chemical properties. Some have the consistency of motor oil, while others will readily evaporate at room temperature. All are lethal in very small doses. A few tenths of a gram will kill an average man. Lethal exposure can be via ingestion (eating/drinking), skin contact with the liquid or by breathing in the agent as a gas.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/30084/original/nhf32fvs-1377661277.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/30084/original/nhf32fvs-1377661277.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sulphur mustard’s molecular structure.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Determining the presence of nerve agents</h2>
<p>The UN inspectors will face several problems determining what happened in Damascus. Nerve agents are unstable in the normal environment and will break down readily. The breakdown products are non-toxic and not particularly notable in the environment of an industrial civilisation. This means it will be very difficult, if not impossible, to detect the use of nerve agents in the air or in substances on the street.</p>
<p>All known military nerve agents are organophosphorus compounds to the extent that certain groups of phosphorus compounds are outlawed for production and storage by the 1993 [chemical weapons convention](http://www.opcw.org/chemical-weapons-convention/annex-on-chemicals/b-schedules-of-chemicals/schedule-1/](http://www.opcw.org/chemical-weapons-convention/annex-on-chemicals/b-schedules-of-chemicals/schedule-1/ ) (which came into force in 1997, but Syria is not a signatory). </p>
<p>Many of the materials that are necessary, known as precursors, for production of the lethal compounds are similarly outlawed. But some precursors are themselves <a href="http://www.opcw.org/chemical-weapons-convention/annex-on-chemicals/b-schedules-of-chemicals/schedule-3/">useful industrial chemicals</a>, with uses in agriculture and chemical processes.</p>
<p>It is unlikely that the inspectors will find residual nerve agent in the environment. The more volatile agents would have blown away with the wind within hours of the incident. Compounds such as sarin break down <a href="http://hazmap.nlm.nih.gov/category-details?id=1452&amp;table=copytblagents">within one and two</a> days in the open.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/30082/original/t8rx46yf-1377660385.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=754&amp;fit=clip">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">On August 26, UN weapons experts set out from Damascus to Eastern Ghouta, the area on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, where chemical weapons were allegedly used and over which West has warned of consequences for the regime of President Bashar al-Assad. The opposition said the August 21 bombardment by government forces using a poisonous gas left 1,300 people dead. The government has vehemently denied the claim.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">STR/EPA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similarly, the compounds are metabolised in the body. A blood sample taken from someone several days after receiving a non-lethal dose will probably not contain any nerve agent. It is also important to remember that the toxic dose is minute compared with the mass of the body. Samples taken a day after the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarin_gas_attack_on_the_Tokyo_subway">Tokyo subway sarin attack</a> contained ~100ng/mL (approximately 1 part in 10 million).</p>
<p>Instead of looking for the agent itself, the inspectors test for a <a href="http://www.news-medical.net/health/Metabolites-What-are-Metabolites.aspx">metabolite</a> (breakdown product) of the compound. The metabolites that will be sought are specific and can be used to identify exposure a particular compound. </p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/30083/original/txxxmt2w-1377661139.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=1000&amp;fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/30083/original/txxxmt2w-1377661139.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=237&amp;fit=clip"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The molecular structure of sarin.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Wikimedia Commons</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This would be achieved by taking urine or blood samples from victims and sending those to a laboratory equipped with appropriate gas or liquid <a href="http://www.chemicool.com/definition/chromatography.html">chromatographs</a> (equipment which separates mixtures) connected to sensitive <a href="http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/magnetic/maspec.html">mass spectrometers</a>.</p>
<p>It is also possible to detect the nerve agent bound to the acetylcholine esterase. This method is similar to that for detecting metabolites. It potentially could be used up to two months after an attack. But each of these methods relies on a sufficiently high dose being received by the victim, which clearly suggests that they would be killed by the effects of the nerve agent and may have since been buried.</p>
<p>Other physical evidence the inspectors will look for will include expended shell or bomb casings that could have contained chemical weapons. They will also study the pattern of injury and death that the incident left on the ground. Release of a compound from containers at ground level will have a different dispersion from artillery bursting in the air.</p>
<p>If the UN inspectors can get sufficient blood and/or urine samples from victims, they should be able to determine the cause of the incident. </p>
<p>But if a chemical weapon attack is confirmed, it may be somewhat harder to positively identify the perpetrators.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/17581/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin Boland ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d&#39;une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n&#39;a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son poste universitaire.</span></em></p>It’s been a little more than a week since reports surfaced of a large-scale chemical weapon attack in Syria. Governments in Europe and the United States have accused the Syrian government of attacking…Martin Boland, Research Fellow, University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/138812013-05-21T04:55:52Z2013-05-21T04:55:52ZExplainer: what are chemical weapons?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/24093/original/6r3c9drm-1368997143.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&amp;rect=0%2C0%2C2784%2C1796&amp;q=45&amp;auto=format&amp;w=496&amp;fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Hopefully this will remain a rare sight.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Edgaras Zvirblys</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>There was chaos on the streets of Halajba in March 1988. In this corner of Iraq, at the time Iraqi Kurdistan, people had suddenly started experiencing cold-like symptoms – tight chest and nasal congestion. Within a few minutes, those effects morphed into feeling dizzy and sick. Many started vomiting and some lost control of their bladders and bowels. Finally there were severe convulsions, as muscles that control breathing were paralysed, before succumbing to death.</p>
<p>The cause for this gruesome event was sarin, a nerve agent that is classed as a chemical weapon. <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/march/16/newsid_4304000/4304853.stm">This incident in Iraq</a> killed thousands and was the last confirmed mass use of chemical weapons. But if <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22557347">new reports</a> are proved right, the most recent use of chemical weapons may have happened as recently as last month. It is believed that the Syrian government, which in July 2012 confirmed that they possess chemical weapons, may have used nerve gas to fight the rebels.</p>
<h2>Weapons of mass destruction</h2>
<p>Defining a chemical weapon is not simple, because many chemicals with legitimate uses, such as insecticides, could also be used for sinister purposes. This is why the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) <a href="http://www.opcw.org/about-chemical-weapons/what-is-a-chemical-weapon/">defines</a> them as: </p>
<blockquote>
<p>All toxic chemicals and their precursors, except when used for purposes permitted by the Chemical Weapons Convention, are chemical weapons. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>By toxic chemical they mean “any chemical which through its chemical action can cause death, temporary incapacitation or permanent harm to humans or animals”. The OPCW <a href="http://www.opcw.org/about-chemical-weapons/types-of-chemical-agent/">categorises chemical weapons</a> on how they work:</p>
<p></p><li><strong>Blister agents</strong> act via inhalation or contact with the skin. As the name suggests they can cause horrific chemical burns leading to blisters. They also cause blindness and permanent damage to the lungs. The class includes mustard gases used in the trenches of World War I and during the Iran-Iraq conflict of the 1980s.<p></p>
<p></p></li><li><strong>Nerve agents</strong> such as sarin are highly toxic and work rapidly by affecting the way that nerve signals are transmitted through the body to the brain. Sarin, for instance, acts by attaching itself to a protein that is 400 times its own size and disrupts nerve-to-nerve communication. This makes the victim lose control of all its bodily functions.<p></p>
<p></p></li><li><strong>Blood agents</strong> interfere with the way that blood cells use and transport oxygen. Examples include cyanide, which may well have seen <a href="http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=PbwyF5Kj8YkC&amp;pg=PA28&amp;lpg=PA28&amp;dq=british+crimean+war+cyanide&amp;source=bl&amp;ots=-FtIcEWCDm&amp;sig=wcv1TIJW3TVuAfUKMT8HTZKx6T8&amp;hl=en&amp;sa=X&amp;ei=v0CZUer7AoPGPZbdgZgH&amp;ved=0CDgQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&amp;q=british%20crimean%20war%20cyanide&amp;f=false">its first use</a> in warfare during the British Crimean war, and arsenic.<p></p>
<p></p></li><li><strong>Choking agents</strong> affect the victims’ ability to breath and also have corrosive affects on the skin and eyes. Chlorine gas, used in World War II, is an example of a choking agent.<p></p>
<p></p></li><li><strong>Non-lethal chemical weapons</strong>, a final category by OPCW, includes riot control agents such as tear gas.<p></p>
<h2>Your morning coffee could kill you</h2>
<p>Scientists define the toxicity of a chemical by something called an LD50, which is the dose of that chemical required to kill half a test population. The unit of measurement for LD50 is grams per kilogram of weight of an animal. It is usually experimentally recorded by subjecting rats or mice with the chemical. </p>
<p>While LD50 is useful to understand the toxicity of chemical weapons, it can be applied to any chemical. Here is a list of chemicals, in the ascending order of their toxicities:
</p><ul>
<li>Sugar 29.7g/kg
</li><li>Salt 3g/kg
</li><li>Paracetamol 1.9g/kg
</li><li>Arsenic 0.76g/kg
</li><li>Caffeine 0.192g/kg
</li><li>Mustard gas 0.1g/kg
</li><li>Nicotine 0.05g/kg
</li><li>Cyanide 0.0064g/kg
</li><li>Sarin 0.00017g/kg
</li><li>Botulinum toxin 0.000000001g/kg
</li></ul>
<p> You may have rightly guessed then that the contents of your morning coffee could be more toxic than arsenic, if you so wished. Similarly botox, which is short for botulinum toxin, is regularly injected in people’s foreheads as a beauty treatment. This just shows that it is the way chemicals are used that turns them into weapons, not necessarily what’s in them.</p><p></p></li><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/13881/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Lorch ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d&#39;une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n&#39;a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son poste universitaire.</span></em></p>There was chaos on the streets of Halajba in March 1988. In this corner of Iraq, at the time Iraqi Kurdistan, people had suddenly started experiencing cold-like symptoms – tight chest and nasal congestion…Mark Lorch, Senior Lecturer in Biological Chemistry, University of HullLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.